Deer Hunt to Shrimp Dinner

Not the deer that netted the shrimp, but a photo of what we might
see in Greenwood County. 

Who would think that a deer hunt would produce a dinner of Shrimp Gumbo? That's what happened when we allowed a hunter from Louisiana to hunt on our property. (We only allow a few bow hunters, those the Rancher thinks can respect the property and the deer). After a successful hunting trip, the hunter returned to pick up his blind from where he watched for deer and brought us some bags of frozen Louisiana shrimp. This is a real treat, we've only had shrimp that was purchased from the store or served at a restaurant.
After searching and considering recipes, I decided a Shrimp Gumbo would be good on a cold damp winter day. Maybe we can pretend we are in the sunny south! This recipe is from Betty Crocker, but I've made some changes, adding more veggies and different seasoning. We enjoyed it over brown rice and it was both warming and filling.

Shrimp Gumbo         

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 large onion, sliced

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

2 cups sliced celery

2 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups beef broth

2 dashes red pepper sauce

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 box (10 oz.) frozen cut okra, thawed and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pound uncooked peeled and deveined medium shrimp, thawed if frozen and tails peeled

3 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onions, ball pepper, celery, and garlic in butter 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly , until bubbly; remove from heat.

Stir in remaining ingredients except shrimp and rice. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir shrimp into gumbo. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm. Serve soup in bowls over rice.